Waiting
by Masked Doll Victoria
Summary: Yu and Nanako meet for the first time in years after Nanako tells her older cousin she has something to ask him. One shot.
1. Chapter 1

"Welcome home, Big bro! It's been awhile."

It had been years since the two had last met. At first it had he had visited once every few months, taking the train that had delivered him to her all those years ago. But once he had been working and she with college entrance exams and thoughts of what she wanted to do with the future, neither could find the time. That was why this particular date was so special.

"It has hasn't it?" The young man smiled. "You've really grown very beautiful since I last saw you."

Nanako blushed a deep shade of crimson. To hear that from someone she cared for so dearly made her happier then she had been in ages.

"Tha...Thank you..."

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Um..." She stuttered as her heart beat at a mile a minute. Her emotions had blocked her bound her words with chains of iron, preventing her from saying anything at all. "I..."

The silver haired boy laughed and ruffled the young girls hair. Not much had changed in all the years that had past since they had last seen one another.

"Don't force yourself, let the words come naturally."

Taking a deep breath Nanako calmed herself. In a few moments she finally reclaimed the words blocked by her ever beating heart.

"Um, do you remember why I asked you to come out here?"

"You had something important to ask me, right?"

"Yeah... Do you remember that promise you made to my dad when I was little?"

He had made many a promise to his uncle, but he very well knew which his younger cousin was referring to.

"Yeah, I remember."

He flashed an awkward smile. That had been nothing more but a childish whim of Nanako's. Something he had agreed with to make her happy in a time of darkness and uncertainty. Though he knew the promise very well, he had no idea why she would bring it up after all these years.

"Well, I'm going to be graduating from high school soon and I've been thinking about my future. So, I was thinking... If you were still interested, would you keep that promise for me?"

The boy nearly feel over. The sincerity in Nanako's voice was almost to much to handle. She had kept that promise in her heart for nearly a decade, while he had nearly forgotten. The imbalance of importance of the event to the both of them was ridicules.

"Nanako... Listen, you were eight when we made that promise. I just wanted to make you happy..." Nanako's eyes welled up with tears, she very well knew what was coming next. "But it would never work out. People would judge me for being with someone so much younger then I am. I'll always love you, but I can't marry you."

"Stupid big bro!" Tear's soaking the blouse of her school uniform, Nanako beat her closed fists against the boy's chest. "You promised! You can't just take it back now. I waited for you, I haven't dated any one since then because you promised..."

"I'm sorry, Nanako." The boy took hold of her hand, preventing further assaults. "Please forget about it and find someone else. You deserve to be happy."

The young girl's cries only became worse, reaching a defening pitch and her entire face lay red and stained with tears.

"I hate you big brother!" Violently pulling her hand out of her older cousin's hand, she turned tail and ran as fast as she could towards home.

"Nanako..."


	2. Chapter 2

Waiting part 2

Yu x Nanako

Yu stood alone on the platform as a cold winter wind rustled his hear and nipped at his brow. Though just moments before he had been in the presence of someone he love very much, he had never felt more alone. Nanako had bared her soul to him and declared a love she had kept hidden for years. He hadn't known how to respond. Who would? He had never seen Nanako as more than his beloved little sister.

All these years, as she grew up and went off to the same high school he had attended years ago, he had noticed how she had felt. It was enough for Yu's face to find home in his palm. The signs had been there a along, that she never had a boyfriend, the way she reserved physical affections for him and him alone, even the loving way she spoke about him. It all had been for the sake of a silly little promise had made nearly a decade ago. All of it spoke of feelings he had been too dense to glean from her everyday actions. He had hurt Nanako and now he had to heal the wound he had cut in her heart. No one else could, that was for sure, so the only real question that remained was "just how can I help her? As he stood in silent contemplation only two real options came to mind.

Go after her.

Think things over first.

It wouldn't do any good to chase after her now. The way Nanako was now, with her emotions dancing about in anger and disappointment, talking to her would only make things worse. As things stood it would be better to avoid her for now and take a short while to let both of them sort out their feelings. For now he would go to town and walk around for a bit. Taking in the nostalgia of that fateful year he spent in that little town would do Yu good in helping him recall just why Nanako had invested such deep feelings in him

The market street running through downtown Inaba was much as he remembered it, though many of the stores that had been there nearly a decade prior had closed in the wake of recession and the threat of larger chain store competitors. Those that remained had hung on by a combination of the appeal of buying local and the personal service that larger stores simply couldn't provide. Yu's wall was a familiar one he had made many times with friends and by himself. The old shrine was still there and looking just as grand as it ever had and the old liquor store was there, too. Awash in memories of years past, Yu soon failed to notice a woman dressed in police uniform standing directly in front of him. And then, in a collision worthy of one Mr. Hanumara himself, Yu tripped, stumbled, and, bringing the uniformed individual along for the ride, landed face first on the side-walk below.

"Owww..." Yu muttered to himself as he got rose from the aftermath of the disaster.

"Um, Sir. " A feminine voice echoed from beneath him, he had landed directly on top of the uniformed woman. "Could you please get off of me?"

The woman's voice seemed vaguely familiar to Yu, as if it belonged to someone to fond of meat for her own good. His suspicions were confirmed as, after the both of them stood up, he found a familiar face staring back at him.

"Chie?" He questioned, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"Yu! Is that really you?" Her voice rang of confusion and a hit of happiness. "It's been way to long, how are things?"

"Fine, work's going well and I've got a place of my own now. But..." Yu's words trailed, the problem at hand was far more important then the details of his everyday life. "Nanako's mad at me."

Chie looked shocked. Those two had been closer than anyone. It would have taken something awful happening to come between them. "Geez, if Nanako's mad at you it must have been serious. Let's goes sit down and you can explain the whole thing."

After buying some coffee from a nearby vending machine, two quickly found a bench near the old shrine and sat down. Yu wore a sullen look on his face that Chie hadn't seen since Nanako's kidnapping.

"Here, drink this. It'll calm you down a little. Then you can tell me everything"

Taking the coffee and sipping it, Yu began his story.

"Well, awhile ago Nanako called me and said she has something important to tell me. It'd way to long since I had seen her last. So I took a few days office and promised her I'd come and visit for the weekend."

"What's the problem then, you've visited her a lot haven't you?"

"The problem is that question of hers. When I first got here she blurted out that she had thought about her future and that she wanted us to start dating based on some promise to her I made years ago. Yu sighed into his coffee, completely aware how strange his story may have sounded.

"So what did you tell her?"

"I rejected her, of course. I have a career to worry about, it'd be a huge mess if someone found out I was dating my teenage cousin. I want to make her happy, but I don't think us being together would be good for her."

"That's your brain talking, Yu. I want to know how you really feel about her." Chie stood up and pointed at her old friend in a forceful manner. "Do you remember what I used to say about stuff like this?"

"Um, it was "don't think, feel!" right?"

"Exactly! When it comes to stuff like this you can't trust what your brain is telling you. You gotta go to your heart to really find out how you feel. I mean if I had done the logical thing, me and Yukiko wouldn't be together today. So, Yu please, look deep down into your heart and tell me how you really feel about Nanako."

Chie's words cut directly to Yu's soul. He had always been closer to Nanako then anyone else. Even mornings when his phone beeped non-stop invitations from a small army of girls, he still ignored them all in favor of playing with Nanako. She had meant to the world to him, and when someone had threatened her life he finally knew what it was like to truly feel for another human being. When he had made that promise he hadn't thought much of it, he had only said those things to make Nanako happy. But, look back on things, being able to say that he and Nanako would be together forever had made him happier then he had ever been. The realization causes tears to fall in torrents from his eyes. The truth was a painful thing. But if he was ever going to see Nanako smile again, he'd have to tell her how he truly felt.

"I guess that answers that question. You should get going and find Nanako. And remember you've got my support no matter what."

"Thanks, I'll tell you how things went next time we get together. Maybe over hamburger steak or something, my treat."

Chie's eyes glistened like the sun reflecting off snow. "You've got it!"

Without another word he set off for the Dojima household, entirely unsure what would become of his future.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Many times over Yu rapped his knuckle against the firm door of his former home, but no one answered. It was the middle of the day and his uncle was still at work, leaving Nanako the only one home. And, in her current state, it was unlikely she was ever going to answer. Taking matters into his own hands, he withdrew an old key from his pocket and inserted it into the door's lock. Given to him while by Dojima when he was still living here, Yu had kept the key as a memento of his year in Inaba. He had never thought it would ever have a practical use again.

As the door swung open, he found the house in much the same condition it had been when he last lived there. Though some of the appliances were new, it was still same room where he had shared so many family meals and spent many long hours playing and watching TV with Nanako. The thought brought a pain to his heart, the possibility that he may never enjoy such a moment again was to painful to even think about. That in mind he climbed the stairs to Nanako's room and once more knocked on the door in a slow and steady rhythm

"Nanako, it's me, Yu. Could you please let me in? I just want to talk."

"No! I never want to talk to you again, stupid big brother!" She yelled, her cries muffled by the closed-door.

"Nanako..." Yu leaned against the door, hoping in his heart that it may help get his message across. "I've been thinking about a lot of things and if you never talk to me again you'll never know what I was thinking about."

A long and awkward silence hung over the both of them. For a moment, Yu feared for the worst. That was, until the sound of light footsteps and turning of the tumblers in the door's knob wafted through the air. It was like music to his ears.

"You can come in..." Nanako said, her voice flat and devoid of emotion.

Nanako's room was exactly what one might expect of a girl in her late teens. Her closet overstuffed with dozens of outfits, while her bed was covered in stuffed animals, many of which Yu and his friends had given to her. It was on that same bed, between a pink alligator and somekind of fairy with a werid hat that Yu sat and patiently waited for Nanako to make the first move.

"So what were you thinking about?" She asked. Nanako's whole body radiated with anger. From the way she crossed her arms to the rapid tapping of her foot, her every movement served to highlight the fact that Yu had made the biggest mistake of his adult life.

"About you and me, mostly. And your question..." Yu's gaze lay fixed firmly on his feet. He very knew he had screwed up, it was only now that the full breadth of that screw up had hit him with the force of a critical hit to his nether regions.

"What about it?" Nanako asked. "You already turned me down, so why does it matter anymore?"

"Well..."

It was hard to say. Chie had helped him realize that his feelings for Nanako were much deeper than the bonds of brother and sister. But to say that aloud, in concrete terms, was difficult. To admit that he loved her and would like to spent the rest of his life with a girl who just happened to be his little cousin opened a whole can of worms. She was so much younger than him and, on top of that, they were related by blood. People would likely be on his case about it forever. But,in the end, none of that mattered. All he wanted was happiness for the person who was most important to him. It was a little selfish, but everyone could be a selfish every once in a while.

"When you asked me that question I got scared. I panicked at all the problems being with you might bring into both into our lives. That's why I turned you down. But I've done some soul searching. And...I do love you, Nanako and nothing would make me happier being with you."

Nanako's face exploded in a expression of surprise and pure happiness. She hadn't expected this, not in a million years. But she was happy, and like Yu had thought himself, that was all that mattered. Flinging herself on her older cousin's lap, Nanako beamed a smile as wide as a canyon.

"I love you to bi...no I shouldn't be calling my boyfriend "big brother." That's just creepy."

"Then what are you going to call me from now on?"

"Hmmm, I guess this works. Let me try that again." Taking a deep breath Nanako beamed once more. "I love you, Yu."

The happy couple spent a long night together or at least until Dojima came home...


End file.
